


Cheated

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Awesome Peggy Carter, F/M, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), THAT MEANS SPOILERS, and i hope peggy gives him hell for it someday, cause I'm tired of people bitching about it, endgame spoilers, hypocritical steve rogers, i am seriously so mad at steve omg, i am utterly baffled by steve's decision in the end, like how can you justify that steve seriously, peggy carter calls out steve rogers, peggy carter is no one's love interest, peggy carter takes no bullshit, seriously what the fuck was marvel thinking, so don't go any further if you don't want spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 07:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18633796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: After Captain America makes an appearance in 2012, the truth about Steve Rogers comes out. Peggy isnothappy.





	Cheated

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah. I just think the end of Endgame confirms Steve is a massive piece of shit, and I had to write something about it.

When news of Captain America helping to save New York hit the news, Peggy was nowhere near New York. Just after Christmas, Steve had suggested that the two of them take some time off and tour Europe. Not to work, just to sightsee. It had been a long time since they'd taken a vacation together and Peggy had found herself agreeing without too much argument. And so it was that, when the Battle of New York happened, Peggy was halfway across the world in Italy. In fact, she was sitting on her balcony drinking a mimosa and gazing out at the beautiful skyline and marveling at how fortuitous life had been.

Steve had gone out for a walk, always diligent about keeping himself in shape even now. Peggy usually enjoyed a walk with him, but her hip was bothering her today. She preferred to bask in the late morning sunlight and was lazily thinking about what she and Steve might do later today when people in the streets below began to cry out and scream. That caught her attention immediately, and she sat up to look over the railing. It didn't take a genius to see that there was nothing immediately wrong, but that everyone seemed to be staring intently at their mobile phones.

Ever pragmatic, Peggy marched into her room and turned on her television.

To say that it was a shock to see a twenty-something-year-old version of her husband running around New York was an understatement.

Approximately an hour and a half later, Steve returned. He was carrying a pastry bag beneath his left arm and whistling softly as he let himself into their shared room. He stopped short at being met with a gun to the face. His eyes widened and the pastry bag slipped from his grip, landing on the ground and spilling half a dozen Zeppole onto the grey carpet. Instinctively, he put his hands up.

"Peggy? What's wrong?" he asked, eyes automatically sweeping the room.

Peggy just looked at him for a moment. There was something awful in her face, but Steve couldn't figure out what it was or why - until he looked past her and he saw the television. The newscasters were speaking in Italian, but the footage on the screen needed no translation. Iron Man, Captain America, and the Black Widow were clearly shown on the screen, going to blows with aliens. Steve set his jaw at the sight and slowly returned his gaze to Peggy's face. She'd always looked at him with such love, but right now there was no affection in her expression.

"When you came back to me, I didn't ask too many questions," Peggy said coldly. The only hint that she was upset was the slight tremble of her lower lip. "When you told me you didn't want to fight anymore, and that you'd already lost too much, I accepted it. When you said you didn't want anyone to know you were alive, I thought about Howard but... I didn't push. When you asked me to keep my distance from Howard and SHIELD, I didn't understand. But you were my husband, and I loved you, so I did ask you asked." Her grip on the gun tightened. "It's been over sixty years, Steve. I think I deserve some answers."

"Peggy," Steve began.

"No! Don't use that tone with me. Don't try to rationalize this away, and don't you _dare_ lie to me. Why is there another Captain America running around, Steve? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm your husband, and I love you more than anything," Steve whispered, looking genuinely pained.

Peggy's jaw tightened. "Tell. Me. The. Truth."

And so, he did.

Steve told her about waking up in the modern century, in 2012, and being thrown back into battle. He told her about the Avengers, about Sam Wilson, about finding out that Bucky was alive. About Ultron, and Wanda and Pietro, and the Accords. He told her about Thanos and the Vanished, and those miserable five years where everyone in the world tried to figure out how they were supposed to move on. He told her about Scott Lang, about Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Professor Hulk, Nebula, James Rhodes, Rocket, and all the others who had come together.

He told her about Tony Stark.

Throughout the long story, Peggy never said a word. The afternoon waned and fell into evening, and still the only sound in the room was Steve's voice, only pausing from anger of grief, but always steady. When at last he'd told her as much as he could, he fell silent and sighed. He reached for a glass of water and took a sip, noticed that the room had grown dark, and stood up to turn on some lights.

That was when Peggy surged to her feet and slapped him.

Steve staggered back in shock, one hand cupping his cheek. "P-Peggy?"

Peggy's voice was low and vicious when she said, "I have thought you to be many things, Steve Rogers, but never once would I have taken you to be such a _selfish asshole_."

"What?" Steve said, stunned. "Peggy, I - I did this for us! Because we never got our dance. Because I love you." He reached out to take her hand. Peggy pulled away from him, taking several steps back, because she didn’t think she could bear his touch right now.

"Are you serious right now? If everything you told me is true, then I must have had a life without you," Peggy said, wrapping her arms around himself. "You just... you _erased_ all that without even thinking about it!"

"You loved me!" Steve said. "You missed me!"

"Of course I missed you!" she shouted. "But Steve, you were not the only person I've ever loved!"

He recoiled at that, and some part of Peggy took enjoyment out of seeing him hurt even as she wanted to reach out and hug him. She didn't move. She couldn’t.

"Peggy... Peggy, please. I did what I thought was right," Steve said.

"Did I have a husband? Did I have children?" she asked.

He hesitated before nodding. "You married. You had two kids, a son and a daughter. I met them briefly at your... at your funeral."

A cold chill ran down her spine. A son and daughter. She and Steve had never had children. They'd discussed the possibility several times, but Steve was always very concerned that any of his children might be born with the same health defects that he'd had. In spite of how far modern medicine had come, he'd never been able to get over that fear. That, plus the fact that their lives had busy, meant the years had passed, and eventually Peggy realized that it was just too late. 

She thought she'd made her peace with that, but now, knowing what she could have had, she wasn't so sure. She thought of everything she'd given up to have Steve Rogers in her life. She'd kept her distance from Howard and the S.S.R. at Steve's request. She'd worked for them, but only occasionally and only when she knew for sure that Steve was well hidden away. What would have changed if she hadn't had to take Steve into consideration? Would she have been at the head of the S.S.R.? Would she have been able to stay friends with Jarvis and Howard, and come to know Tony Stark as more than just a figurehead the media fawned over? 

Would she have made a difference in the world?

"I think you should leave," Peggy said quietly.

"Peggy! No. Please. We can talk -"

"I need some time to think," Peggy said, speaking over him. "I am asking you to give me that."

"But Peggy -"

"Steve, get out," she said.

For a long moment, she thought that he wouldn't go. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her with a mulish expression. It was the same expression he always wore when he was getting ready to dig his heels in. And Peggy was mere seconds from throwing her arms up and walking out the door herself when finally, he turned and walked over to the door.

"I only did it because I love you. I was cheated out of the chance to be with you," he said softly, not looking at her. Then he opened the door and left.

Cheated. Yes, they'd all been cheated.

Peggy had a glass of wine. She ate a light supper. She might have cried, though she never would admit it. And then she packed her bags and took a flight back to Washington.

It took another week for Steve to show up. She had only asked him to leave once before, and their fight when he hadn't given her the space she needed was legendary. Peggy took the time to think about everything that Steve had told her. It was a lot of information, and not all of it was relevant to her, yet all of it mattered. She mourned the family she'd never had, the children she would never hold, the husband she would never kiss goodnight, the grandchildren she would never be able to spoil. It hurt, but what hurt the most was that she knew Steve still thought he'd made the right choice.

Their life together had been wonderful, but it still wasn’t right.

When Steve did come home, it was a sunny, late May morning and he came bearing coffee and breakfast. He set the cups and food on the table and sat down across from her. Peggy made no move to touch the food. Steve ate alone, devouring the three breakfast sandwiches and drinking both cups of coffee. Only once he was finished, and he'd sat back to look at her, did she speak.

"I always believed you were a man with honor," she said slowly. "Now, I don't know. You left Bucky there, Steve. After everything you did, regardless of whether it was right or wrong, you left him there alone."

"He wasn't alone. He had Sam," Steve argued. “He has Shuri and T’Challa, and I know that Clint and Thor and Bruce wouldn’t abandon him if he needed them. The Avengers stick together.”

Peggy frowned. "That's not the point and you know it. How could you - how could you live with yourself?" She finally raised her eyes to look at him. "All those years, Bucky was being tortured by Hydra. I've talked to you about the Winter Soldier before, Steve. You never said a word. You let him suffer."

"That's not true. I couldn't change that. I couldn't change -"

"The past? You already changed the past by coming back to me!" Peggy snapped, sitting forward. "Don't sit there and tell me you were concerned about changing things too much, Steve. You have no idea what I was supposed to do, or what my children or grandchildren might have done. That's bullshit. You were just too scared about anyone discovering your secrets."

Steve scowled. "It's not like that. Bucky was okay, Peggy. He's fine."

“You did so much in his name,” Peggy said. “I can read between the lines of what you said. You hurt so many people. How could you just… leave?”

“I’d given everything! I wanted the chance to have Tony had. Couldn’t I be selfish for once?” Steve said. He was getting angry now.

Peggy just shook her head. "We barely knew each other. You told me that I was the love of your life, but Steve... we only knew each other for a little over a year. Did you even try to move on? Or did you just fixate on me? Did you really love _me_ , or did I just represent everything that you left behind in the past?"

He looked so uncomfortable at the question that Peggy already knew the answer before he could start trying to justify himself. 

"I just don't know what to do anymore. You're not the man I thought you were," Peggy said, and to her horror she could feel her eyes filling up with tears. "When I think about all the years we spent together... you _lied_ to me. Every time you took me in your arms and we danced, you lied. And now I just can't help wondering... was I ever anything more to you than a trophy?"

"Peggy!" Steve jumped up, his weathered face filled with concern. "God, of course not. I love you." He rushed around the table and gathered her into his arms.

Peggy let it happen, but she didn't hug him back. She stood stiffly as Steve mumbled apologies and tears tracked down her face. She'd never pushed, never asked questions, and she'd never hated herself more for that. But she also had to wonder if Steve would've just lied even if she had asked. He was, she knew, very good at justifying things to both himself and the people around him. The only reason he couldn't do that now was because there was irrefutable proof in another Captain America walking around. 

"I'm going to stay with my sister for a while," she said.

Steve held her tighter. "Please, don't."

"Sharon just had her baby," she went on. "And Amanda would like me to come to meet her. So I'm going."

"I'll come with you," Steve said.

"I don't want you to," Peggy said.

"I feel like I'm losing you," Steve said. "Peggy, please. Please don't do this."

She couldn't say anything to comfort him. "Goodbye, Steve."

Gently, but firmly, she pulled his arms away from her. The sight of his anguished face made her chest hurt so much she could barely breathe, but Peggy steeled herself. She took hold of her suitcase, tucked into the corner of the kitchen, and walked out the door to her car. Steve followed her, literally begging her not to leave. But he was smart enough to try and stop her from getting into the vehicle. She shut the door, started the car, took one last look at her husband's face, and backed out of the driveway.

"Peggy!" Steve cried.

More tears slid down her cheeks, but Peggy still pressed on the gas and drove away.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
